Thar She Blows!

Has it been a month already? It seems like only last week that I’d decided to get on the rather large party bus that is known as Mixology Mondays. Last month’s theme was orange, but this month, Gabriel at cocktailnerd decided to go with Fizz! as his topic of study.

Now, I’m a classical cocktail guy at heart, (regardless of what my posts in molecular mixology may tell you), but when it comes to Mixology Mondays, I want to offer something unique, to ensure that some other bloke with a blog doesn’t do the same post as me (and probably do a better job of it to boot!).

As I’m sure there are going to be a number of French 75’s, Ramos Gin, Southside, and Imperial Fizzes, and at least one Picon Punch (I’m looking at you Paul), I’ve decided to take two interesting classics, and merge them into one original libation.

For those of you that have been reading this blog, you know that I’ve come up with my own makeshift version of Amer Picon. As I tend to make large batches of anything that’s homemade (I’m a lazy bugger who only wants to do prep on an occasional, not daily, basis) I have been playing around with a million and one recipes using this fantastic spirit. So a cocktail with Amer Picon as an ingredient was what I had in mind this month.

Knowing that whatever I came up with, bubbles were to be involved, I combed through my various tomes, pursuing anything with the word fizz, Rickey, Collins, or punch.

But then it got ugly. Real ugly. So ugly, in fact, that it came to blows. I’m not talking about fisticuffs though, but rather about that odd category of drinks that should be a fizz, but for some reason isn’t. (I know, I know, but what did you expect? It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve used a bad pun.)

From what I can determine, a blow is a fizz with a fruit component added (other than lemon). And what is a fizz you ask? Why it’s a Collins without ice. And what is a Collins? Why it’s a sour with soda. And what is a frustrated bartender? A bartender that has to figure out one drink category from another, with no easy manual to help him along the way (come on Dave, get on it will ya?!?).

So I decided to make a drink that was part Picon Punch, part Peach Blow and part Jamie Boudreau (is that the bitter part?). As I didn’t have peach liqueur, I decided to use some Abricot du Roussillon, an apricot liqueur by Giffard which, IMHO, has got to be the best sweet apricot spirit out on the market. Abricot’s subtle fruity sweetness plays along with the bitter of the Amer and the sour of the lemon, and even lets the Lillet tag along, even though he has a lazy eye and a lisp and is shunned by the other aperitifs.

What about the bubbles? The theme, after all is Fizz! Well, I threw all of the ingredients into a soda siphon before serving, ensuring that all the spirits were living in carbonated harmony.

There you have it, another Mixology Monday under my belt.

Now why don’t you join me with an:

APRICON BLOW

6 oz Amer Picon

2 oz Giffard’s Abricot du Roussillon (or similar Apricot liqueur)

4 oz Lillet Blanc

2 oz lemon juice

10 oz water

place all ingredients into a siphon and charge
store in fridge until cold
pour into un-iced 6 oz tall glasses
serves four

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7 Responses to “Thar She Blows!”

I’ve been trying to keep track of all the definitions I can find, flip, fizz, swizzle, toddy, cocktail, collins, shrub, sling… good idea for an aggregate post, see how many contributions the cocktail/bartending community can put together.

Erik:
It is my belief that Craddock added the designation “fizz” to the “blows” in order to better fit in the categories he had for his book. I’ve seen reference to a “blow” in other tomes (Waldorf’s Old Bar Days springs to mind) with out the “fizz” attached. Also, (if I recall as I don’t have my Savoy at work), I believe only one of the “blow fizzes” mentioned by Craddock has egg in it, so I don’t think that this would be a defining characteristic, although I wish it were, as otherwise it would be, whammo bammo, good job done!

Well, there are only two in the Savoy Cocktail Book, Apple Blow Fizz and Peach Blow Fizz.

You’re correct, the Apple Blow Fizz has egg white and the Peach Blow Fizz does not. Though, one of the PBF recipes in the cocktaildb does include egg white. And the Apple Blow Fizz is just Apple Brandy, dash lemon, egg white, sugar and soda. No additional fruit component. So, who knows?